Welcome to the new CJR.

Pondering the confluence of ‘the dress’ and Scott Walker.

Both subjects of no real value, overdramatized. We live in a meta-world where a name mention — whether positive or negative — increases saturation for that subject, ultimately proving a boon. Instead of feeling the need to express an opinion, there’s significantly more value in just ignoring such things.

And if you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, I stand up and applaud in your general direction.

Guardian.UK: Stop calling for a Muslim Enlightenment.

Pacific Standard: Who’s Really to Blame for the Black Death?

I get tired of every friggin’ event getting viewed (or bodily into) a climate-change lens. You know I believe in climate change; it’s just that it’s become the go-to culprit for every historical crisis now, to the exclusion of all other influences.

Mashable: How Jon Stewart lifted America out of the gutter

No, it points out the tragedy of American news ... that citizens flock to a comedy show to learn how to feel about major events. “Don’t make me think.” Don’t get me wrong, I like Jon Stewart. But the number of people aping his exact pronouncements, without a shred of independent thought, makes me queasy. It’s become left-wing gospel, his monologues. Similar to the blind devotion to Michael Moore; I critique his poor filmmaking skills (I consider him sloppy), and some distant left-wing friends then characterize me as an evangelical gun-toting Republican [I am Democrat, for those who don’t know]. Forget playing devil’s advocate - only my readers here seem to understand that subtlety anymore.

Later: As I’ve mentioned previously, he was a decent bartender at City Gardens, a venue I used to frequent in my wild-and-crazy youth.